


A Loving Rivalry

by lydunno



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, PREATH - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-12 08:03:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19942864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lydunno/pseuds/lydunno
Summary: It’s Tobin’s first year at UNC… she’s rooming with her best friend, Alex Morgan. Down the hall are her other teammates, Kelley O’Hara and Emily Sonnett, and two floors below them are Allie Long and Sam Mewis. Tobin wants to stay as focused as she can this year, making sure her soccer skills are sharp. However, that all changes of course when Tobin meets a certain someone… a certain someone who happens to be the star forward at Duke, UNC’s biggest rival.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I have been on a rampage reading Preath fics, so I decided that I wanted to write one of my own! I just now really started getting into and following the USWNT and the NWSL (I know, I suck…) but I am trying to catch up. Anyway, not all the details in this story are accurate, but it’s fiction so I figured it’s okay. I hope you guys enjoy this first chapter, and please leave comments. I haven’t ever really written before, so any feedback would be amazing. I’m not really sure how this story will go, and I am just writing whatever comes out of my head so there may be a tad lack of structure. I think I might switch around the POVs a little, going back and forth between Tobin and Christen. Who knows what I’m feeling.  
> Also, I haven’t taken an English class in awhile so if there are a lot of grammatical errors then I apologize (I’m the queen at just throwing in a comma and calling it good…). Also, there might be some editing mistakes so again, sorry! Anyways, enjoy!

— _Tobin’s POV —_

A noun, simply defined as “a person, a place, or a thing.” For Tobin Heath, the person was her best friend Alex Morgan, the place was Fetzer field at UNC, and the thing… well, that was easy, soccer. 

Tobin started playing soccer when she was 4, and ever since then she was hooked. Throughout the years she earned the nickname as the “Nutmeg Queen” as she had a tendency to kick the ball through the defender’s legs, rather than dribble around them. 

Soccer was something that came naturally to Tobin, almost as naturally as it is to breathe. Whenever she was on the field with her soccer ball, it was like the whole world melted away. 

It was November when Tobin and her best friend signed their national letter of intent to play for UNC. It was the best day of Tobin’s life. She was going to get to play Division I soccer at her dream college with her best friend. I mean, what is better than that?

—

“Tobin! C’mon, help me bring the mini-fridge upstairs!” Alex yelled from her car. 

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Tobin shouted back.

It was the end of May, and Tobin and Alex were moving into their dorms. They had to move in early because they were taking some classes to help lighten their first-semester load so they focus more on soccer once the season started. They also, of course, had to do pre-season conditioning and training. 

“Dude, it’s so weird to be here when like no one else is here,” Tobin said, as she helped Alex put the fridge on the moving cart. 

“I know, but it’s also kind of nice because then we can get a feel for the campus so we aren’t those lame freshman who walk around on the first day with Google maps pulled up,” Alex replied, pushing the fridge into the dorm as Tobin held the door open.

She had a point, Tobin thought to herself. 

Luckily, their dorm had an elevator and they didn’t have to carry the mini-fridge up four flights of steps. Despite that being a good work out, it definitely would have sucked.

Their dorm was located both near the soccer field and the athletic building where they did weights and conditioning. It was a newly updated dorm, and somehow Tobin and Alex got a room that had an attached bathroom. 

The room across from them had two girls who were on the diving team and then next to those girls were Kelley and Emily, both on the soccer team. 

“Okay, tell me again how you guys managed to not only get a corner room with TWO windows, but you also got an en suite?? I swear, life is not fair,” Kelley complained as the two girls walked in. 

Kelley O’Hara. If only words could describe her. Tobin had become friends with her over the years, meeting at different national youth team call ups. She was a bundle of energy times ten-thousand. She was always bouncing off the walls, talking a million different words at once, and checking in on everyone’s business.

“I have no clue, just got lucky I guess! Now, are you gonna help us decorate or what?” Alex laughed.

They did get a pretty kickass room. They had a corner room with two massive windows, overlooking the soccer field. Their beds were lofted, with a desk underneath. They had a closet with a small wall separating the two, along with two dressers. But most importantly, they had their own bathroom. Tobin had to admit, it was pretty sick.

They spent the next few hours getting everything organized and ready. Setting up the TV with the Roku, getting the PlayStation hooked up so they could play FIFA, finding a place to put the fridge and microwave. 

Alex decorated her side in classic Alex fashion, strung up Christmas lights and clothes-hanger pins with different pictures on them.

Tobin on the other hand didn’t really bring any decorating supplies, just some bedding and towels along with a TV. 

“Tobin, are you really not going to decorate your side of the room? I mean, I know we will be busy with soccer, but maybe do something?” Alex asked.

Tobin wasn’t really one for decorating. She was laid-back, casual. She really just wanted to be playing soccer. 

“Nah… I mean, if you want to put up some decorations on my side feel free. Just as long as I have a bed with a pillow and blanket, I’m set.” Tobin shrugged.

“Okay, we should definitely go to Target later then!” Alex said, clapping her hands.

“Mmm okay, whatever you want,” Tobin replied, not really looking at Alex. 

While Alex was still busy futzing around with the room and unpacking Tobin got her laptop out to check on her class and conditioning schedules. 

Even though Tobin was probably the most chill person anyone would ever meet, she still cared about school. She wanted to have a backup plan in case playing professional soccer didn’t work out. I mean, injuries happened. Hopefully not her but she just wanted to be careful. She had a long talk with her mom before coming down to UNC about how she had to keep her grades up, even though playing professional soccer was the ultimate goal. She knew she had a chance of going pro because she had been constantly getting called up for youth national camps. She told her mom that soccer came first, but promised that school would come second. 

“Okay, what do you think??” Alex asked. 

Tobin looked up from her computer at the room, and it actually had come together nicely. Her side definitely did look stark in comparison, but overall, it looked good.

“Damn, it really looks awesome. But yeah, we should go to Target so you can decorate my side.” Tobin laughed.

— 

After a trip to Target, the girls decided on going to dinner.

“Alright, so what’s the schedule for tomorrow?” Emily asked.

Emily Sonnett. Basically, Kelley O’Hara Jr. Tobin, who loved both of them, was very glad she wasn’t their third roommate. The only person who could handle rooming with Emily was Kelley, and vise-versa.

“So, sadly Tobs and I both have class at 8am, love being a freshman. Our classes run until 9am. Then we have weights from 10-12, a lunch break, conditioning from 1-2, another break, and then practice with the whole team from 3-5. Afterward is an induction meeting until 6. Then we get dinner and study I guess.” Alex said.

“Yeah, I think that’s pretty much the schedule for the whole summer. Also, I am taking 2 online classes so that’s gonna majorly suck,” Tobin replied. 

“Oh yeah, miss smarty pants over here,” Kelley laughed.

Tobin just rolled her eyes. “Gotta keep my options opened, Kell.”

“Dude, Tobs, you’re like one of the best midfielders out there. I mean,” Kelley lowered her voice, “you’re the Nutmeg Queen!”

The whole table burst out laughing, and even Tobin laughed a little while still rolling her eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just made a promise to my mom I’d be a good student too. You know, in case I get majorly injured or something.” 

“Yeah, I get it. But damn, 3 classes? Sucks!” Kelley replied. 

Kelley, Emily, and Alex were all three majoring in communications. Basically just something they could get a diploma in so they could play soccer. Tobin, on the other hand, was majoring in exercise and sports science so she could at least work as a PT or in some sport-related field. 

“Alright, let’s get out of here and enjoy our last night before school and soccer start!” Sonnett declares.

— 

Back at the room, Kelley and Sonnett immediately turn on the TV and start playing FIFA. They, of course, are yelling profanities back and forth at one another. Alex gets on her laptop and is doing whatever Alex does. Tobin just sits in her desk chair, watching the two children battle it out, shaking her head at the sight before her. After a few minutes, Tobin’s phone buzzes. She picks it up, it’s a text from her mom.

**Mom:** *Hey _honey, I hope you had a good day. I miss you a lot, and your siblings do too. Have a great first day tomorrow. Love you*_

Tobin smiles at her phone, sending a quick message back to her mom. She definitely was going to miss them, but she was happy to be moving onto this chapter in her life. 

— 

At 6am the next morning, Alex’s alarm starts going off.

“Dude, 8am class SUCKS,” Alex grumbles. 

Tobin, still half-asleep, doesn’t move. She has never really been a morning person. Of course, being an athlete with a crazy schedule, waking up early was part of the job. Still, she hated it.

“Tobs, you gotta get up… I’ll let you sleep while I take a shower, but the second I get out you have to wake up.” Alex says as she hops down from her bed and heads into the bathroom.

Tobin just grumbles in reply, knowing that Alex is a fast showerer. 

After getting ready, Tobin and Alex make their way down the hall to make sure that Kelley and Sonnett are up. They come to the door, both with major bed head, but at least they were up and dressed. The four make their way to the athletic building next door to have some breakfast before class. 

“Okay, waking up early sucks, but at least they feed us athletes well!” Sonnett exclaimed.

They found the cafeteria inside the athletic building, and it really was a sight to see. It was like a hotel breakfast buffet, but better. Tobin had a strong urge to go over and get some pancakes and bacon, but before she could even move Alex started talking.

“Okay ladies, we want to be in our best shape for this pre-season and season, so only healthy food.” Alex reminded them.

Tobin internally groaned, picking up a plate and walking past those delicious and fluffy pancakes. 

They sat down at a table, and two other girls approached them.

“Hey, do you guys mind if we sit here? I’m Madison and this is Alexa. We’re both divers, and I think we live across the hall from you guys.”

“Yeah, sure, take a seat!” Kelley said, patting the seat next to her, “I’m Kelley. This is my roommate Emily, and these are Alex and Tobin. Also, sorry in advance for how loud Em and I are going to be this semester.”

“Oh, you guys weren’t loud last night,” Madison said, eating a bite of fruit.

“Not yet, but they will be,” Alex laughed. 

Tobin looking at the girls who just sat down, couldn’t help staring at Alexa. She had long, wavy blonde-is brown hair, tanned skin from diving outside, and two very, very cute dimples. She was honestly one of the most beautiful girls Tobin had ever seen. This made Tobin, the ever-so-relaxed Tobin, a little nervous. 

Tobin knew she was gay ever since she was little. It wasn’t some big secret, and it also wasn’t a defining feature of her life. She came out to Alex first, who was completely supportive of it and made sure to tell her that nothing about their friendship would change. She then came out to her sisters, and they were both like “yeah, we knew” and she got the same reaction from her brother. Her mom took it a little harder than her siblings because of how religious she was, but over time learned that no matter what Tobin was still her daughter. Tobin’s dad didn’t take it well at all, and it basically ended their relationship. They never really talked anymore, they just existed in the same house until Tobin left for college.

Throughout high school, Tobin had small crushes on girls. Girls like Katie Winters, student-body president and homecoming queen or Rebecca Mackenzie, captain of the debate team but also wickedly attractive. Basically, unattainable girls. Nevertheless, even if they were girls she could never date, they still made her nervous. They made Tobin freeze up anytime they would talk to her, and this was something Alex knew well.

_Oh, shit, Alex sees me freezing up_ , Tobin thought to herself. It didn’t help that Alex had decided to sit across from her at the breakfast table. Alex gave her the “are you okay” eyes, and Tobin just nodded slowly. Tobin sat silently eating breakfast, listening to Kelley and Emily try and entertain the two new girls with their jokes. 

“Alright, it’s 7:30, I guess we should head off to our classes,” Alex said, picking up her tray.

As they got outside, they all got out their phones to figure out how to get to their classes. Alex, Emily, and Kelley all had the same class so they headed out together. Madison also had a class in their direction so she went with them. Tobin and Alexa figured out they were taking an intro biology course together, of course, in the opposite direction. So, they had to walk together. Tobin could feel her throat and mouth go dry.

“You sure you’ll be okay without me?” Madison asked.

“Yeah, I got this,” Alexa said.

As they began walking, Tobin didn’t really know what to say. The girl was so pretty and made her nervous.

“So, um, what are you majoring in?” Alexa asked, breaking the silence.

“Exercise and sports science. What about you?” Tobin mumbled as she fiddled with the hem of her shirt.

“Biology,” Alexa replied, “why’d you choose that major?”

Tobin told her about wanting to have a backup and everything, and Alexa said that’s why she was doing biology. There wasn’t really “pro-diving” unless you counted the Olympics, but Alexa said she wasn’t at that diving level. She explained that she was just a walk-on and wanted to keep diving because she loved the sport, but she really wanted to go to medical school.

They made it to their biology class with 10 minutes to spare, finding a pair of seats near the middle, where they weren’t too close but also not too far back. 

The first day of class was pretty boring, just going over the syllabus and a short lecture about how water was polar and had a dipole moment, all things that Tobin knew. The professor let them out 10 minutes early so Alexa and Tobin decided to walk back to the dorms before they had to go to weights. 

“So, how does diving, um, work?” Tobin asks, hoping that Alexa won’t notice how awkward she is being.

“Well…” Alexa starts explaining how the numbering system for diving works. 

Tobin is half listening but mostly focused on watching Alexa. She had delicate facial features, everything about her was small and petite, but there was no denying that she had muscle. Her legs and her arms were definitely toned, something Tobin noticed right away.

“… so yeah, that’s kind of diving in a nutshell.” Tobin hears after missing the entire middle section of the conversation. Tobin made mental note to look up diving in the evening so Alexa wouldn’t know she hadn’t been listening the entire time. 

Luckily all of Alexa’s talking took up the duration of the walk back to the dorms. Tobin awkwardly said goodbye before heading into her room. The second she walked in, Alex was right there in her face.

“Oh my god, what happened with you and Alexa?” Alex says, barely getting the words out due to sheer excitement. 

“What do you mean? Also, how’d you get here before me?” Tobin asked, setting her backpack down.

“Oh, we got let out of class after like 10 minutes. We just went over the syllabus and the professor was like okay peace out.” Alex said, “but back to my original question! I saw how you froze up when you saw Alexa. I’ve only seen you do that two other times, with Katie and Rebecca.”

“Umm, I don’t know. She’s really pretty and really nice,” Tobin shrugged. “She mostly talked about diving and wanting to become a doctor.”

“We should look her up on Instagram!” Alex squealed. 

It didn’t take long for Alex to find her Instagram.

“Okay, so she’s from Indiana. She’s a walk-on. She has four dogs. I also do not see any posts with boys, so she’s maybe single and maybe into girls!” Alex said, wiggling her eyebrows.

Tobin just rolled her eyes, “I thought we were going to try and focused on soccer this year.”

— 

It was 7pm, and Tobin was exhausted. Even though it was the first day, there was no mercy. They met a few more of the freshman on the soccer team, Allie Long and Sam Mewis, who were in the same dorm as them, just two floors down. Their coach, Anson Dorrance, was a no-nonsense kind of man and expected great things this season. It was a lot to take in on the first day, but Tobin was excited. 

Once they got back to the dorms, everyone agreed to meet up in Tobin and Alex’s room. They all decided that their room was going to be the official hang out room because it was the biggest and had the attached bathroom. Before everyone came over, Tobin made her way out into the hallway to fill up her water bottle from one of those eco-friendly fountains. 

“Hey, how was your first day?” A soft voice said behind her.

Tobin turned around, and there was Alexa. She was in an oversized shirt, some athletic shorts, and her hair was wet and pulled up in a bun. She was gorgeous. 

Tobin swallowed the lump in her throat, “Um, yeah, it was good. Hard, but good.”

“Yeah, same here. We did a ton of dry-land training today, and my body is so sore.” Alexa said, stepping in from of Tobin to fill her water bottle. 

Tobin could smell her strawberry shampoo from her wet hair, and feel her body heat due to their closeness. Tobin awkwardly stumbled backward, trying to distance herself.

“Yeah… my body is pretty sore too.” Tobin squeaked out.

“Maybe we should get a massage sometime,” Alexa suggested. 

Tobin could feel the blood rush to her cheeks, “um yeah, maybe.”

“Hey, give me your number, you know, that way we can text about class and stuff,” Alex said, holding out her phone.

Tobin put her number in, accidentally hitting a few wrong buttons, but finally managed to get her number right.

“Thanks, see you in the morning,” Alexa said as she walked back to her room.

Tobin just kind of stood in her place for a few seconds. _Wow, could I have been more awkward? Probably not. At least no one saw this conversation._

Tobin walked back into her room, hearing everyone debating what Netflix movie they should watch. Tobin slumped down into her bean bag chair, and her phone buzzed.

**Alexa:** _*Hey! It’s Alexa. Wanna walk to class together again after breakfast tomorrow? :)*_

**Tobin:** _*Sure, sounds great!*_

**Alexa:** _*Can’t wait :)*_

Tobin had a feeling that she was going to be seeing Alexa a lot this summer, and needed to stop being so nervous around her. I mean, she can shake a crush, she has soccer to focus on.

— 

It was 2am, and Tobin was wide-awake. The girls had left their room around 11, and Alex was fast asleep in minutes. Tobin could hear her deep breaths, and tried to fall asleep to that sound, but there was no luck. Instead of trying to fall asleep, Tobin decided to get up. She grabbed her ID, some tennis shoes, and her soccer ball. She tried to be as quiet as she could, but also knew it didn’t really matter because Alex is one of the deepest sleepers known to man. She makes it out of the room and lingers behind a couple of seconds after the door clicks, just to make sure she doesn’t hear Alex on the other side.

Somehow, Tobin makes her way to one of the practice fields. It’s pretty dark, but luckily there’s a street lamp by one of the goals to give off some light. As Tobin walks closer, she sees a figure on the field. It looks like someone just taking casual shots into the net. She wonders if it’s another one of the girl’s on the team. As she gets closer, she sees the girl who is taking shots, who is about her height in black leggings and a black hoodie.

“Hey!” Tobin says, not too loudly.

The figure either doesn’t hear or chose to ignore Tobin.

“Hey!” Tobin says again, close enough to tap the girl’s shoulder.

The girl whips around, pulling out her headphones, looking straight at Tobin.

There has never been a time in Tobin’s life that she has been truly stunned. Not even when she got her first call-up to a youth nationals camp. Not when her high school team remained undefeated and state champs for four years in a row. Not when she met her soccer idol, Mia Hamm. However, in this moment, she was truly stunned.

The girl in front of her, even though the lighting was dark, was breathtaking. She had smoothest, olive-brown skin and dark, thick hair. Her eyes were green and face had prominent features.

“Who are you??” The girl whispered, breaking Tobin from her stunned state.

“I’m Tobin, who are you? Why are you on the field so late? Do you even go to UNC?” Tobin managed to get out, also realizing she had never seen the girl before.

“I just felt like practicing, gotta get my shots in,” the girl shrugged.

“You didn’t answer like any of my questions,” Tobin replied. 

“No, I don’t go to UNC. Are you gonna tell on me?”

“Umm no, but what’s your name?”

The girl shrugged off Tobin’s question, making Tobin even more confused.

These past few days had been a lot for Tobin. Meeting two gorgeous girls. One who was open and bubbly, and now this one, a complete mystery. Tobin’s all cool and all chill attitude was definitely disturbed. 

“Umm well, I guess I’ll let you get back to whatever you’re doing,” Tobin mumbled, deciding that it probably wasn’t the best to be out here with a stranger even though all she wanted to do was play some soccer.

“You can stay if you want,” the girl offered, not even looking up from the ball.

Tobin could never say no to soccer, so she decided to at least stay for a little. The lighting was terrible so they couldn’t really do too much without being in the dark. 

“Can I at least ask what position you play?” Tobin asked, kicking her the ball.

“Forward,” the girl said, as she kicked the ball perfectly into the net. 

“But you don’t go here? I didn’t see you at practice today,” Tobin questioned.

The girl merely shrugged and ran and got the ball from the goal.

Tobin stayed out with the mystery girl for awhile, but after about an hour decided that she should probably get some rest since she knew the rest of the week was going to be crazy.

“Well, goodbye I guess. Mystery girl,” Tobin said.

“Mmm, mystery girl. I like that. See ya around, Tobin,” the girl chuckled, and ran off into the other direction into the darkness.

When Tobin got back into her room, without waking Alex, she thought maybe it had all been a dream and she was going to wake up at any minute. However, after laying there for a little bit she knew it wasn’t and she knew that mystery girl was going to keep her thinking all night.

Finally, Tobin fell asleep, after what seemed like hours, still thinking back to the girl.

—

It was the next day at lunch, after Tobin had been to class with Alexa, and after a grueling weight session. 

“Okay, so we are in the ACC conference, and one of our biggest rivals is Duke,” one of the sophomores is explaining to the girls.

“Duke has a killer forward this year. She’s from California, and she is lightning fast,” another teammate explains. 

“As fast as me? You know, they call me baby horse,” Alex chips in.

“Maybe not as fast as you, Al, but she’s fast,” someone else says.

“Her name is Christen Press. Here’s a picture of her,” the sophomore replies, throwing her phone to the group of freshman.

Tobin looks up, and immediately recognizes her as the girl from last night. _Oh fuck_.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobin and Christen continue to meet up, but not everyone is happy about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter! I'm really having fun writing this, so I hope everyone likes reading it. Again, sorry for any mistakes.  
> Also, the story is going kind of slow, honestly, I am just typing whatever I feel inspired to so bear with me :)

— _Tobin’s POV —_

It’s 2am again, and Tobin can’t sleep. She can’t stop thinking about Christen Press. Christen Press. She had spent the better part of the night Googling her. She discovered that she only started playing soccer in high school on a whim, which explained why Tobin had never really heard of her before. She found her soccer stats and some videos from high school, and she was damn good. She was also damn gorgeous. Tobin wanted to know why she came to UNC late at night to practice. These thoughts had been running around her mind ever since she saw that picture. Tobin decided to take a chance and sneak out to the practice field again, hoping to find the same girl from the night before.

Sure enough, there she was, in her same all-black outfit. This time she notices Tobin coming, and pulls out her headphones.

“You know we really should stop meeting like this,” she laughs.

“Oh yeah, would you rather meet at a rival conference match?” Tobin quipped back, not sure where that comment came from.

The girl froze, “so I take it I’m not longer ‘mystery girl’ and you figured out who I am?”

“Christen Press, Duke’s newest forward.”

The girl sighed, “Damn, my secret is out. Good job, Tobin Heath, you work fast.”

Wait, Tobin definitely did not tell her what her last name was, “How’d did you…”

“I know my competition,” Christen said bluntly. 

Tobin doesn’t really know what to say at this point. Still a little intimated by Christen’s sheer beauty and athletic skill. 

“Oh, so I guess I should be okay with enemy soccer players coming to practice on UNC territory?” Tobin replies.

“Yep,” Christen says, popping the “p” in the word.

Tobin stares for just a second more at the forward before walking back to her room, even more confused than before. 

— 

— _Christen’s POV_ —

_Shit, I was pretty harsh_ , she thought to herself as she watched Tobin walk off the field. 

Truth was, Christen hated being at Duke. She had no friends there, and while the other freshman on the team were nice, they had all played together in high school so Christen was the odd one out. She had been making it a routine, sneaking out of her dorm at Duke and driving to UNC to mess around on their practice field. She never did anything more than just take shots, but it still made her feel reckless which was an emotion she had never felt before.

Back in California, Christen was the nice girl, a goodie-two shoe in fact. She was a straight-A, honor roll student with not a lot of friends. Her freshman year, she decided to play soccer so that should could have some extracurricular activity on her transcript. Turns out she had a natural born talent for soccer. Her ball control was incredible, and her speed was a huge bonus. Despite becoming a soccer star, she was still the same reserved, quiet girl who hung out at coffee shops with her best friend Julie. So, this newfound freedom in college, was a lot for her. She wanted to reinvent herself in college, so she thought this small act of recklessness would help. She had been coming over for a few weeks, and she had never seen anyone. Until last night. 

She knew who Tobin Heath was, well, everyone in the soccer realm knew who Tobin was. Tobin was a true soccer star, gaining fast popularity in the soccer world. Her nutmegs were legendary and all over YouTube. Tobin was also the last person Christen would expect to find her, late at night on a practice field that wasn’t even hers. 

Christen decided to call Julie, seeing as it was only around midnight in California.

_“_ Hey Jules, I saw her again,” Christen said.

“Tobin??? Did you talk to her?”

“Yeah, I was kind of a bitch to her again. She figured out who I was and I got scared and I just didn’t know what to do,” Christen explained.

“Pressy, why are you going the bitch route. You literally would not shut up about the great Tobin Heath before you got to Duke!! You should be nicer. What’s she like?”

“Well, she’s nice I guess. Asks a lot of questions, but I guess I would too if I found her over at Duke. I don’t know, I feel bad. Maybe I should message her?” Christen rambles.

“Yeah, I think you should and apologize.”

“I don’t want her to think I am a softie. We are rivals you know.” Christen retorts.

“Chris, you are a softie,” Julie adds lightly, “I know you want to change yourself now that you’re an East-coaster, but c’mon, you know who you are.”

Christen sighs in defeat, she knows Julie is right, and she knows she should apologize. 

“Alright, I will message her, thanks for always being there for me Jules.”

“Love you, let me know how it goes!” Julie responds. 

“Love you too, I’ll keep you updated don’t worry,” Christen says, ending the phone call. 

— 

It’s the next evening, after practice and Christen is back in her dorm room. Her roommate, another freshman named Morgan was down in the common room FaceTiming her parents. Without really thinking about it, she searches Tobin’s name on instagram. Luckily it was public and had a decent following, probably due to her popularity in the soccer community. Tobin didn’t really have many personal; pictures, mostly just of her in soccer jerseys playing or of different sceneries.

_Maybe I should message her and apologize. That’s what Julie would want me to do. I mean, I guess I could and maybe she won’t even read it! No that’s dumb, she definitely will read it. Maybe she will read it and not message me back! Okay, that’s dumb too. I should just message her._

Christen decides to just take the plunge and DM her.

**Christen:** _Hey, sorry for being such a jerk the past two nights. I didn’t really know how to act and I was just taken off-guard seeing someone else out so late at night. I know that doesn’t really excuse my behavior, or the fact that I’m basically your rival, but yeah. Sorry._

Christen pressed send, immediately closed out of the app, and threw her phone down the bed. She kind of just stares at it, not knowing what to do. Before she can do anything, she sees her screen illuminate, and sees there’s a notification from Instagram. It’s Tobin.

**Tobin:** _It’s okay. Why do you come to UNC late at night to practice if you go to Duke? You have an amazing soccer facility over there too…_

Christen reads the message over and over again. Should she initiate further contact? Or, should she shut it down. Part of her says to keep talking with Tobin because at the moment, she’s currently at a loss for friends. The other part says that this is her rival and she should focus on soccer, not on making friends. But, then she can hear her mom’s voice in the back of her head saying that having one friend from a rival school would be better than having no friends. So, Christen takes the plunge.

**Christen** : _I’m not really sure, I just feel like coming over to UNC. I don’t know how to explain it._

Not even a minute later, she gets another response, but this time it’s just Tobin’s number and her saying that Instagram DMing is weird. Christen couldn’t argue with that.

**Christen:** _*Hey, it’s Christen*_

**Tobin:** _*So, are you ever going to really answer my question? Or are we going to keep avoiding the subject…*_

**Christen:** _*I told you, I am not sure how to explain it… it’s just something I like to do.*_

**Tobin:** _*I truly do not understand you, Christen Press. Are you coming back tonight?*_

Christen just sat their, holding her thumbs above the screen. Did she want to go back now that she’d been busted. It was no longer her space. Before she could keep thinking another text came through.

**Tobin:** _*You can still come, I won’t tell anyone…*_

Before she knew it, she was typing again. 

**Christen:** _*Yeah, I’ll be there*_

_—_

It was about 1:30am when Christen got in her car to drive to UNC. Was Tobin going to come?

Julie was right, when they were talking on the phone. Christen had kind of been obsessed with Tobin and her career. Once she really got into soccer in high school, she began looking up other soccer players around her age and stumbled upon Tobin’s profile. There was something about the way Tobin engaged with the ball. It was almost magic the way she could dribble and create space between herself and the defender. Christen could tell that Tobin was going to be one of the greats. It also didn’t help that Tobin was quite attractive. Tobin’s tanned skin and toned muscles. Her floppy smile and hair always in some haphazard bun. Even though she had only seen Tobin in pictures or videos, Christen couldn’t help but smile every time she saw them. Christen had never really felt this way before, she didn’t know if she felt this way because of how well of a soccer player Tobin was or if it was something else. Christen had known for awhile that she wasn’t exactly straight. Well, she definitely wasn’t straight, but she didn’t really know how to label herself. She had gotten drunk once in high school at a mistake of a party, and made out with some guy but didn’t really care for it. Then, one time at a soccer camp during the summer of a junior year, she kissed one of the other girls for like 10 seconds. It wasn’t that great, but it definitely made her think about her sexuality. Before she had even realized it, she had made it to UNC. 

As she walked toward the practice field she could see Tobin, standing there looking at her. She walked up to her, and before she could say anything Tobin started talking. 

“You know we really should stop meeting like this,” Tobin says, copying her statement from the night before.

Christen laughs a little, “Yeah, I guess we should. I promise to be nicer tonight.”

“Mmm, promise?” Tobin laughs too.

“Yeah, but maybe don’t ask me again about why I’m here?” Christen offers.

“Okay, I will skip the worn-out question you’ll never answer. Hmm, how about, who is your favorite soccer player?” Tobin asks.

“Really? My favorite soccer player?” Christen says, eyeing Tobin.

“Trying to keep the subject light,” Tobin shrugs. 

They begin talking about soccer, their favorite players and teams. Christen figures out Tobin is a huge Portland Thorns fan, while Christen prefers the Utah Royals. They continue to chat about random stuff, nothing heavy, until they both realize the time.

“Shit, it’s like 4am, I gotta get back to my dorm.” Tobin says, looking at her phone.

_Holy shit_ , Christen didn’t realize how long they’d been talking.

“Hey, maybe sometime we can meet up for coffee and talk later? Preferably in the daytime?” Tobin asks, before leaving.

Christen isn’t sure what she should say, but she thinks what’s the harm in coffee.

“Sure, text me,” she says, before walking back to her car. 

Once back in her car, Christen couldn’t believe she had been out until 4am talking to Tobin. Tobin was just so easy to talk to, even though it was their first real conversation. It didn’t take her long to get back to her dorm, on the account there was no traffic. She climbed into bed, Morgan still sound asleep, and pulled out her phone to set an alarm only to find she had a text.

**Tobin:** _*Hope you made it back safe, it was nice talking to you.*_

—

— _Tobin’s POV —_

 _Oh my god, I can’t believe I just sent her that text. At 4:05am!!! We literally just had our first conversation_ Tobin thought to herself after she had pressed send. Tobin also couldn’t believe that she could actually have a conversation with a girl as beautiful as Christen. She didn’t trip over her words or say anything too stupid. Once back on her dorm floor, Tobin’s too focused on her past conversation with Christen to notice the girl walking towards her, accidentally running into her.

“Oh my, I am SO sorry,” Tobin says in a hushed tone.

“It’s okay, I promise. What are you doing up this early?” 

Tobin realizes it’s Alexa, wearing on some short-shorts and a sports bra. Tobin can see her toned stomach and brings her gaze up to see the Nike swoosh on her chest. 

“Um, I’m just gettin water.”

_Stupid Tobin, you don’t even have your water bottle with you_. 

“Oh okay, well I’m just headed to the bathroom. I’ll see you in the morning for class.” Alexa says, scrunching up face and walking past Tobin. 

“See ya,” Tobin says, and runs to her room before seeing anyone else.

—

The first two week of classes and practice were done. It had become a routine to wake up, get breakfast, walk with Alexa to and from biology, go to practice, and then go to the fields to meet up with Christen. Tobin hadn’t gotten up the courage to formalize their coffee plans, but their nightly meetups had been going better. However, her lack of sleep was catching up with her.

“Tobs, it’s only 7pm on a Friday and you’re falling asleep,” Alex says, throwing a pillow at Tobin.

“Hey, I’m sleepy. Can’t a girl snooze a little bit?”

“Well rally fast, some of the upperclassman are throwing a little party tonight for the girls on the team.”

“Mmm party,” Tobin mumbled.

Tobin wasn’t much of a partier. She was popular in high school, not on the same level as her high school crushes were, but popular enough with the jock group. Alex was kind of the leader of the athletes, and being her best friend Tobin just followed her around. Tobin had been to her fair share of parties, but wasn’t a huge fan. 

“I know you’re not a huge fan, but at least come out and hang with the team.” Alex encouraged. 

“Yeah, I know. Gotta bond,” Tobin replies, turning over to look at Alex.

“Exactly! That’s more like it!” Alex smiles.

— 

Turns out the party wasn’t actually all that bad. The freshman girls got there around 11pm, and there was good music playing and people just hanging out, playing flip cup or just socializing. It was nice to hang out with the team, and get to know some of the sophomores and juniors. After a couple hours, and a couple too many shots, Tobin found a surge of confidence within her. She pulled out her phone to send a text to Christen.

**Tobin:** _*Hey Press… wanna grab that coffee tomorrow?*_

It’s only a matter of seconds before Tobin’s phone is buzzing again.

**Christen:** _*It’s 2am and you’re asking me out for coffee?*_

**Tobin:** _*Sorry, I didn’t realize it was so late… but, coffee? 10am, there’s this cool coffee shop near campus. I can send you the location in the morning.*_

**Christen:** _*10am, see you soon.*_

Tobin instantly smiled after seeing that Christen had agreed to get coffee with her. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol in her, or what, but she was really excited to see Christen again.

— 

“Hey, any trouble getting here?” Tobin said, as she was sat down at the table Christen was at.

“No, no trouble,” Christen replied.

This was the first time Tobin had seen Christen, well, not at night. She was wearing some Birkenstock sandals, jean shorts, a plain grey t-shirt, and her hair was down. She looked amazing.

“So, what kind of coffee do you drink?” Tobin asked.

“Oh, I can- ” Christen started.

“Hey, I asked you here, it’s my treat,” Tobin smiled.

“Iced vanilla latte then, thanks.”

Tobin went up to the counter and ordered the drinks. _Okay, gotta play it cool. She’s just a girl and you’re getting to know each other. I mean you’re rivals. Gotta focus on soccer. But, she’s so pretty, and -_

“Tobin! I’ve got an iced vanilla latte and an iced Americano for Tobin!” The barista shouts, breaking Tobin’s internal freak out.

Tobin adds some cream to her drink before making the way back to the table. Christen is there, petting a passerby’s dog. 

“She is so cute! Thanks so much for letting me pet her!” Christen says, as the dog begins to walk away.

“Big dog fan?” Tobin asks, setting the drink in front of her.

“Yeah, I have two dogs at home. Morena and Khalessi.”

“You ever miss it?” Tobin asks, wondering if Christen will answer a bit more personal question.

“My dogs? Yeah, of course.”

“Yeah, but also being home? With your parents and stuff?”

“Um, sure, I guess.” Christen says quickly, “What about you?”

Tobin notices the sudden shift in Christen’s demeanor, maybe there’s more to her family life than she was willing to share.

“Yeah, I guess. Happy to be here though.” Tobin replies, also not giving too much detail. 

They continue chatting lightly, sipping their coffee. It isn’t until someone comes up to them, and breaks their trance.

“Hey Heath,” someone says.

Tobin turns her head to see the captain of the UNC soccer team walking up to her.

“Oh, hey, um hi,” Tobin says quietly. 

“Hey Press, what are you doing on enemy territory?”

“Uh,” Christen says, drawing out the “h.”

“We’re just having coffee, no big deal,” Tobin quickly says.

“Mhm… well, see you at practice later,” the senior says, giving Tobin a look before walking off.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Christen says, grabbing her bag.

“No, wait, don’t go,” Tobin says, and without thinking reaches out and grabs Christen’s hand.

Her hand was cold, much cooler than Tobin’s perpetually warm hands. Her skin was smooth. Tobin could feel her cold metal rings against her fingertips. It felt, nice, like their skin temperatures balanced each others.

“No, I should really go. It was nice talking to you, Tobin,” Christen said, as she hurriedly walked away.

“Damn it,” Tobin muttered.

—

Tobin avoided her captain for the entirety of practice that day. Hoping that she wouldn’t say anything to Tobin or call her out. Tobin just put her head down, and did what she came to do. Play soccer. At the end of practice though, the captain hit her towel against the locker to get everyone’s attention.

“Hey everyone! Listen up. I have an unofficial announcement to make. I’ve been talking with my co-captain, and some of the upperclass man, and we decided it’s time to tell you guys some of the ground rules here. The first, no drinking during season. The second, keep your grades at least high enough to keep eligibility. The third, and most important, don’t date anyone from rival teams. Okay, that’s it. Great practice, have a good day off tomorrow.”

Tobin swears she was being targeted by that third rule. But, her and Christen we just friends. Even though her heart kind of skipped a beat whenever she saw her. But, that was nothing… 

“Dude, did you hear those rules? Who would even be crazy enough to date someone from, ew, Duke? Nasty blue devils,” Alex said, walking towards Tobin.

“I mean, a Tar Heel isn’t exactly the sexiest mascot, Alex,” Tobin snapped, in a tone a little harsher than what she wanted.

“Whoa, sorry, didn’t mean to disrupt the ever chill Tobin,” Alex laughed, hitting her legs before walking towards the shower.

What had gotten into Tobin recently. She definitely was not feeling like herself. She decided to let it go, opting to take a hard chill this evening as she walked towards the shower.

—

“Okay, Tobs, what do you wanna do tonight?” Alex asked, once they got back to their dorm room.

“Hard chill,” Tobin replied.

Tobin and Alex had this thing called a “hard chill.” It was where they just sat and watched movies or played on their phones. Whatever they did though had to be something so lazy that they didn’t raise their heart rates.

“C’mon, Tobs. Let’s do something fun! Maybe Alexa would like to do something?” Alex pleaded.

“Nah, you can go out Al, but I am hard chilling,” Tobin said.

Before Alex can say anything else, Kelley and Emily burst in.

“Party tonight!! The swim and dive house is having a party, and Madison and Alexa invited us!” 

“See Tobs! No hard chill!” Alex squealed. 

“Nah, you guys go. Let me know how it is,” Tobin replied, determined to not get up.

Alex looked at her, and Tobin gave her a look Alex knew all too well. The look of “I’ve made up my mind and no one can change it.” 

“Alright, Tobs, but we’ll miss you,” Alex says.

Tobin just waves as Kelley and Em bounce out of the room, Alex following behind them laughing.

Tobin isn’t really sure what she’ll do for the rest of the evening. Maybe have a Harry Potter marathon. As she queues up the first movie, her phone begins to ring. It’s Christen, and despite her want to hard chill, her heart rate definitely picks up.

“Hey,” Tobin says, trying to be as casual as possible.

“Hi… um sorry I kind of ran out today after coffee. I didn’t really know what to do,” Christen mumbled.

“Oh, it’s fine. I didn’t think it was a big deal to have coffee with you,” Tobin replied.

“It’s a big deal… we’re rivals. I don’t even think we’re supposed to look in each other’s genera; direction, let alone get coffee together.”

This made Tobin sad because she really liked Christen, and before she knew it she was saying, “Well, what if we just kept it a secret?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tobin and Christen continue on with this secret friendship...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! Sorry it's been a couple days. I can never really focus on one thing (aka one story), so I've started a series called "Preath One-Shots" where I'll be posting random little stories when I need to take a break from this one. If there are any mistakes, I'm sorry! Hope you like this chapter!

— _Christen’s POV —_

Christen was the poster child for keeping secrets. A girl in kindergarten once spilled milk on the floor and Christen was the only one who saw it. The girl asked Christen not to say anything, and to this day she hasn’t mentioned it. She’s never had a problem with keeping secrets. She liked when people told her things, it made her feel trusted. However, this time, she felt a little uneasy. 

“I, I don’t know. I mean, how would it even be possible?” Christen replied.

“I mean, up until today we had been meeting in the dark on a practice field at 2am,” Tobin chuckled. 

_She wasn’t wrong_ , Christen thought.

“And, you know, we can call. I’ll change your contact name. Boom. We can stay friends,” Tobin added.

Friends. That made Christen’s heart sink, the barest bit. She did want to keep talking to Tobin though. The past two weeks had been nice. It had been nice to be listened to and noticed because she sure wasn’t getting much love from her teammates. 

“Alright, so what should I change your name to be? Any nickname requests?” Christen replied, giving in.

“Hmm, well, my friends call me Tobs or ugh, Toby. Kells calls me Toborito, so just put the burrito emoji as my name!” Tobin exclaims.

Christen laughed at the thought, but it isn’t a half bad idea.

“Alright, what about you, what would you like to be?” Tobin asks.

“Hmm, well most people call me Chris or Press. Or Pressy. But, that doesn’t work well. Oh! How about you put a chess piece emoji for me? Chessy?” Christen offers.

“Like the lady from the Parent Trap?” Tobin replies, Christen can see Tobin scrunching up her face.

“Chessy? No her name was Jessy!” Christen says.

“Look it up right now, I am 100% right.”

Sure enough, it was Chessy.

They keep talking until Tobin’s roommates came home. From what Christen could make out before getting disconnected is that one is named Alex, and another is Kelley. She decided it was time to do more thorough investigating on Instagram.

She pulled up Instagram and looked through Tobin’s tagged pictures, where she found a much larger array of photos than on Tobin’s personal page.

_Hmm, let’s look for an Alex_. Christen finds her easily, and her heart falters a little to see how undeniably gorgeous she was. Her dark hair contrasted perfectly with her piercing blue eyes. In every picture Alex and Tobin were right next to each other. Always with their hands on each others waists. Christen did more exploring and found Kelley’s and Emily’s Instagram. Before diving too deep into more photos, her phone begins to ring.

“Hey Jules! I miss you!” Christen says, happy to talk to her friend. 

“I miss you too! How’s everything going?” Julie asks.

Christen spends the next twenty minutes explaining how being at Duke sucks and how everyone is nice but no one is really hanging out with her. She also goes into more detail about her talks and time with Tobin.

“It sounds like you guys are becoming fast friends,” Julie remarks.

“Yeah, I guess, but I don’t think we are allowed to be friends.”

“Oooh, forbidden friendship. Like Romeo and Juliet. Except, non-romantic and well, hopefully you both don’t die…” Julie trails off.

Christen can’t help but think about the “non-romantic” part. She really liked Tobin, and her heart definitely seemed to speed up around her. When Tobin touched her hand today, she could have sworn she felt something.

“Hey, are you still there?” Julie asked.

“Yeah, I’m just thinking,” Christen mumbled, still lost in thought.

“About what?” 

Christine hadn’t really come out to anyone yet. She told Julie about kissing that girl at camp, but never really said that she way gay. Christine still wasn’t sure, but she knew she felt differently about Tobin.

“Oh nothing, hey it’s late here, so I should probably get to bed.” Christen says.

“Okay, well you can talk to me about anything, night Chris.” Julie reminds her, before hanging up. 

After hanging up, Christine just laid there, staring at the ceiling. Confused about her feelings, sad about not really making any friends, and missing being on the UNC practice field with Tobin. 

As she was about to fall asleep, her phone buzzed.

**Tobin:** _*It was nice talking with you, goodnight Chessy*_

There was no denying it at this point, Christine definitely felt something towards Tobin Heath and she was scared as hell. 

— 

“Hey, it’s like 10, I know we don’t have practice today, but I just wanted to let you know that me and some of the girls are going to brunch in a little,” a voice said, as Christen was waking up.

“What?” Christen mumbled.

“Do you wanna go to brunch in a little?” The voice being her roommates. 

“Uh,” Christine responded, a little confused because this was the first time she was being invited to do something with the team in a few weeks.

“You should come, some more freshman just got here. They were late, something about a mistaken schedule.” Morgan said, shrugging. 

Christen figured why not, it was their off day, and maybe she could make some new friends. 

They got to a small restaurant, and a lot of the girls on the team were there. Everyone had divided up into their little cliques, except two girls awkwardly sitting at the end of the table. 

“Hey, are you two the new freshman?” Christen asked, sitting down.

“Yeah, I’m Lindsey and this is Mallory,” the blonde girl replied.

“Hey, I’m a freshman too, I’m Christen.”

“So, what’s with everyone basically being best friends alright?” Mallory asked.

“The other incoming freshman, besides me, all went to the same high school. Also, I guess that high school is close to here so they’ve known the team for awhile. I don’t know. I’ve kind of been off on my own these last couple weeks so it’s nice to have you guys here now,” Christen explained.

“Well, it’s nice to have you too! So what dorm are you in?” Lindsey asks.

They begin chatting, and Christen is really happy to actually be making friends. She learned that Lindsey and Mallory are both from Colorado, but they didn’t know each other until coming to Duke.

“So, have you checked out UNC yet?” Mal asks.

Christen choked on her food a little bit, “um no, why would you ask?”

“Because that’s where Tobin Heath is going!”

It was weird to hear Tobin’s name like that, coming from someone else’s mouth. She wasn’t sure how she felt about it, or why she had a reaction to it. Nonetheless, it was weird.

“Oh, yeah I guess. We aren’t really supposed to go over there. Rivalry and all.” Christen shrugged. 

“I can’t wait to play UNC. I just want to meet Tobin. She seems so cool.” Mallory says, trailing off.

Before Christen could say anything else, she heard the bell on the restaurant door ring.

“Hey Mal, I think you may meet Tobin before that first game,” Lindsey says, nudging Mallory in the arm.

Christen looks up to see Tobin, Alex, Kelley, Emily, and two other girls walk into the restaurant. She only knew who they were from her night of Instagram stalking, but there they were, in the flesh. Alex was prettier than pictures did her justice. Tobin was Tobin, very attractive and looking very laid back. Emily and Kelley were goofing off, a vibe given off by their Instagram. However, Christine didn’t recognize the other two girls with them. 

“Oh my god, it’s Tobin Heath,” Mal whispers. 

It takes a second, but Tobin finally looks up and locks eyes with Christen. Christen can see Tobin go a little wide-eyed, and poke Alex in the waist. She whispers something in her ear, and Alex turns to the group of Duke soccer players sitting eating brunch. 

“Well, if it isn’t some of the Duke soccer girls,” Alex says, walking up to the table.

Christen couldn’t believe her confidence, and from the way Tobin’s expression looked, Tobin couldn’t believe it either. 

“What do you want… Morgan?” One of the sophomore hissed.

“Oh, nothing, just here for a little brunch. I see you already ordered for me,” Alex said, grabbing a piece of fruit out of the other girl’s fruit cup.

“Alright, that’s enough. We will be going now. See you guys later!” Tobin yelped, grabbing Alex by her t-shirt and dragging her out the door. 

The other girls in their group kind of look dumbstruck and quickly ran out following Alex and Tobin.

“Wow, so that’s Tobin Heath,” Mal says again, completely enamored. 

_Yeah, that’s Tobin Heath_ , Christen thought to herself. 

— 

— _Tobin’s POV —_

“DUDE WHAT WERE YOU DOING?!” Tobin yells at Alex, finally getting her back in the car.

“I dunno, it was funny to mess with them,” Alex shrugged. 

“Okay well we definitely should not have done that,” Tobin muttered.

“It’s fine, it’s not like anyone got hurt. What happened Tobin? You used to be so chill before we got here,” Alex says.

_She’s right_ , Tobin thought to herself. She didn’t know what had gotten into her. 

“Let’s just go somewhere else for food,” Tobin sighed.

Tobin put the car in drive and the gang went to a different restaurant, luckily where there were no Duke students, and no Christen Press.

— 

Back at the dorms that evening, the girls decided to stay in and continue the Harry Potter marathon that Tobin had started. 

“Dude, _Goblet of Fire_ , well it’s fire! It’s the best movie of the series,” Kelley argued with Emily.

“No way! The two-parter _Deadly Hallows_ is superior because they’re the final two!” Emily countered.

Tobin just shook her head, listening to the two of them go back and forth. It was always the same argument whenever Harry Potter wasn’t mentioned.

“So, Alexa asked about you at the party last night,” Alex mentioned casually, “she was sad you weren’t there.”

“Oh, um, that’s cool,” Tobin shrugged.

Tobin liked Alexa, she was nice. Always wanted to talk about something or other, and always had an opinion. Kind of like Alex. Tobin didn’t mind it though. She was used to always listening or just being a passive participant. Alexa was also very attractive, but not in the same way as Christen. Tobin’s mind always drifted back to Christen for some reason. The mystery girl, who was less of a mystery now, but still, Tobin didn’t know much about her. 

“Would you wanna go out on a date with her?” Alex asked.

“Um, nah, I’m focusing on soccer right now Al,” Tobin replied.

Alex just rolled her eyes, “Okay, whatever you say Tobs.”

Tobin would, however, consider going on a date with Christen, except she didn’t really know if Christen was gay or into that kind of thing.

When everyone had finally settled down and decided to actually watch the movie instead of talk over it, Tobin decided to do a little investigating.

_Hmm, okay well Christen DMed me on Instagram so I guess I’ll check there first_. Luckily her profile was public. Tobin scrolled through her pictures, almost accidentally liking one or two. She couldn’t really figure much out from the pictures. There weren’t many pictures, and the ones on there were taken pretty far apart. Tobin couldn’t blame her though, her Instagram game wasn’t that great either. She mostly only posted pictures whenever Alex told her that she should. However, on picture of Christen, she captioned it with three rainbows. While of course that was definitely not enough to suggest coming out, it made Tobin the tiniest bit hopeful. 

**Christen:** _*Hey, fun running into you at brunch today. Did you end up getting a breakfast burrito somewhere? Haha*_

**Tobin:** _*I knew I should have never mentioned the Toborito nickname… I actually got eggs, thank you very much.*_

**Christen:** _*Wanna meet again tonight?*_

**Tobin:** _*Of course*_

_—_

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you actually _liked_ the Twilight movies?” Tobin asks, laughing.

“Hey, you cannot deny the greatness of the scene in _New Moon_ right after Edward left Bella where the camera just circles around her, playing the song ‘Possibility’ while the months go by,” Christen defended, also laughing. 

“Okay, you’ve got a point there. Cinematic masterpiece,” Tobin said, rolling her eyes.

“Alright, so what is your favorite movie series?” Christen responds.

“Um, Harry Potter, of course,” Tobin replies, as if it was obvious. 

“I should have known you’re a Potterhead.”

“Are you not?” Tobin gasps, clutching her chest.

“I’ve seen like four of the movies, and never read the books,” Christen says, shrugging like it’s no big deal.

“I, I, I think I have to go,” Tobin jokes, pretending to run off. 

“Well, maybe we can watch them together sometime,” Christen suggests.

That makes Tobin a little sad, knowing that her and Christen couldn’t really hang out in public or go to each other’s dorm rooms.

“Can I ask you something?” 

“Um sure?” Christen replies, kind of nervously. 

“Why did you go to Duke?” Tobin asks.

“Uh, erm, yeah so they offered me a scholarship to play so I took it,” Christen says, very unconvincingly.

“So, you only got an offer from Duke?” Tobin continues to press.

“Sure, um, let’s talk about something else.”

Tobin didn’t want Christen to feel uncomfortable, but there was definitely more behind that story. 

The pair continued to walk and talk as they kicked the soccer ball around in the dark. It was becoming routine for the both of them to function on little sleep. To Tobin, it was worth it to be able to have this time with Christen. She really, really enjoyed talking to her, even if Christen never told her the full story. 

— 

After a couple more weeks of late night meet ups with Christen, Tobin was getting antsy. They kept tip-toeing along this fine line of keeping their conversations light and playful, never getting too personal. This bothered Tobin because she really did want to get to know Christen. Even if it meant just becoming her friend.

Tobin always loved learning new things about people. She loved to learn about what made them special and what made them different from everyone else. 

She decided tonight she was going to take the plunge, and see if she could have a more meaningful conversation with the girl was always on her mind.

“Let’s change it up a little tonight,” Tobin said, twenty minutes into their usual nightly meetups.

“And do what?” Christen questioned.

“If I kick this ball into that trash can,” Tobin pointed to a garbage can about 10 yards away, “I get to ask you any question I want. If I miss, you can ask me anything you want.”

Tobin watched as Christen’s considered her offer, looking a little uneasy, but nevertheless accepted. 

Tobin let out a deep breath, lined herself up with the can, said a little prayer, and kicked the ball. She watched as it arched up in the air, going straight into her intended spot.

“Swoosh.” 

Christen groaned, “alright Heath, what’s your question?”

Tobin realized she didn’t actually have a question prepared, she had been too focused on making the shot. She also wasn’t expecting for Christen to agree. 

Tobin scratched the back of her neck awkwardly, “ah, um, what’s your biggest fear? That’s like not a thing.”

“Not a thing?”

“Ya know, like spiders or snakes.” 

“Out of all the things you could ask me, you want to know my greatest fear?” Christen questioned.

“Yeah,” Tobin said, “and be honest.”

It took Christen a couple minutes before sighing, “finding out or knowing that I’m not good enough.”

_Of course it was a vague answer, but at least it was something_ , Tobin thought.

“Like, in the terms of soccer or?”

“Sure, or in life I guess,” Christen mumbled playing with the sleeves of her hoodie. 

“Hey, Chris?” Tobin said softly, “I think you’re pretty great.”

Tobin watched as a small smile creeped over the sad girl’s face. Without even thinking, Tobin had her arms outstretched, pulling Christen in for a hug.

It was the second time they had ever physically been in contact, but somehow, they fit seamlessly together. Christen’s arms fit perfectly around Tobin’s waist, her head finding the perfect spot against Tobin’s neck. 

It was like they were always meant to be like this. It was like the final piece of a puzzle being added. It was like everything in the world just stopped. It was just them. 

— 

_— Christen’s POV —_

_Holy shit, I’m hugging Tobin Heath right now. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. And, fuck, this hug feels amazing_.

Christen could feel her head burrowing further into Tobin’s neck. She never wanted this moment to end.

However, all good things come to an end.

“Hey! Hey! HEY! Who is out there?!” A mysterious voice shouted, piercing through the darkness.

A flicker of a flashlight popped up.

“Run!” Tobin whispered, grabbing Christen’s hand. 

Christen had no idea where they were going, she just was blindly running behind Tobin. She did know that they were running in the opposite direction of her car. 

“Tobin, my car is the other way!” 

Tobin did a complete 180, rushing back towards the soccer field where they almost got caught. Luckily, they made it to Christen’s car, ducking behind the doors.

“So, this night definitely took a turn,” Tobin laughed.

_It took a lot of turns— I almost opened up my soul to you, we had the best hug of my life, and we almost got caught at 4am on a soccer field_.

“I guess you could say that.”

“So, we might have to cool it on the late night meetings,” Tobin murmured. 

Christen’s heart faltered a little, this was her favorite thing to do.

“How about we go to the movies, it’s dark there,” Tobin offered.

Christen wanted to say yes. In fact, she wanted to scream yes. However, the lingering fact that they were rivals was always in the back of her mind.

“Tobin, we can’t be seen together,” she started saying.

“I know, we’ll drive separately, buy tickets for different movies, but then meet up in a different theater. It’s complicated but, I really don’t want to stop seeing you.”

That’s all it took for Christen to say yes. She didn’t ever want to stop seeing the tan midfielder that made her heart soar.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey Alexa... what's playing at the movies?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm glad everyone is enjoying the story so far. This is the first fanfic (multi-chapter) that I've every written. Sorry if it's kind of a "slow burn" right now, and super dialogue heavy. I'm still trying to figure out my writing style and everything. I hope you stick around to see me through this journey, and as always, I hope you're liking the story.

— _Christen’s POV —_

_Alright, just a movie. You like movies. Movies are fun. You can eat popcorn and candy. Wait, maybe not, you’re in training. Okay, well if I’m not eating what am I supposed to do with my hands? I could hold Tobin’s hand. Whoa. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’ll just sit on my hands. Yep. Super comfy. Good —_

Christen’s thoughts were interrupted by the vibrations of her cell phone.

**Tobin:** _*Alright, ready for the game plan? Tomorrow, I’m going to get the the AMC at 1:00 and buy a ticket to see the new Lion King movie. You’re going to get to the AMC at 1:15 and buy a ticket to see Toy Story 4. Then, we’re going to actually meet in the theater showing the 1:30 movie of Spiderman. Okay? Break!*_

Christen chuckled at her phone. The lengths they were going to in order to hang out. Despite how crazy it all sounded, it was worth it to Christen.

**Christen:** _*Sounds like a hell of a plan, but I think it might just work ;)*_

—

It was 1:12 on a Friday afternoon. Luckily, there was a coaches conference in Raleigh this weekend which meant both of Duke’s and UNC’s coaching staff were gone, effectively giving both teams a free 3-day weekend.

Christen stood outside the AMC, looking at her watch.

_Alright Chris, you can do this. This is no different than your nightly meet-ups. This is just at a movie theater. In the afternoon. Okay, so maybe it is completely different. It’s okay. You got this._

With that, Christen took a deep breath and marched herself into the theater. When she got inside she saw Tobin by the drink station talking to some girl she didn’t recognize.

_I thought we were meeting in the theater? What’s going on? Who is that girl? Why is she standing so close to Tobin and why is she touching Tobin’s arm? Wait, shit. No one is supposed to see Tobin and me together… oh fuck, they’re both looking at me, too late now._

As she approached the pair, she heard the girl say, “Yeah, well, my friend bailed on me and I already bought the ticket so I’ll just come watch whatever movie you’re watching.”

“Hey Tobin,” Christen said.

Christen watched as Tobin lifted her head towards her, panic in her eyes.

“Hey Chri— I mean, Kiersten,” Tobin sputtered out.

_Did she just call me Kiersten?_

“Alexa, this is my friend! Kiersten… uh, Kiersten Fresh? Yeah, Kiersten Fresh. Kiersten, this is Alexa. She lives across the hall from me.”

_Oh shit. Also, Kiersten Fresh? That was the best she could come up with._

“Oh my god! It’s so nice to meet you. How do you know Toby?”

_Toby? Tobin hates that nickname. Save that thought for another time, Christen. What am I supposed to say?_

Before Christen could say anything, Tobin started talking again, “Ah, Kiersten is a family friend from home. Yep. She just flew down to see me since we don’t have practice this weekend. We’re super good friends. Right? Yeah. Go Jersey!”

“Um, yeah! I love Jersey. Gotta love the garden state?” Christen said, trying to go along with Tobin’s ever-evolving lie. 

“Oh, so why didn’t you two come to the movie together?”

_Fuck_.

“Oh um, we came together. She was just over at the mall looking for something and that’s why she came in late,” Tobin said.

_Damn, she is a good liar._

“Oh, if she’s from Jersey, does Alex know her?”

_This girl does not let up. What is this, an interrogation?!_

“Oh, um, no. Kiersten is from a different town. Uh, her sister and my sister were friends so we got introduced somewhere along the way. Yep, super cool.” Tobin mumbled, trying to sound as convincing as possible.

“Oh okay, well I’m going to go get some popcorn. You two wait here and then we can go into the theater,” Alexa replied.

Right as Alexa got out of earshot, Christen whipped around to slap Tobin in the arm.

“Tobin, what are we going to do about her? The plan is ruined!”

“Hey, calm down. Alexa is a diver, not on the soccer team. She doesn’t know about you! Besides, to her you’re Kiersten Fresh,” Tobin replied, laughing a bit.

Christen just rolled her eyes at Tobin’s made-up name for her. Before she could say anything else, Alexa was back with a tub of popcorn.

The three made their way into the theater. Thankfully, there were only a couple other people there and none of them were college-aged. The trio decided to sit in the highest row, all the way in the back. Tobin sat in the middle with Christen to her left and Alexa to her right. 

This was definitely not the afternoon Christen had planned, but it was way too late to back out now. 

Once the movie started, Christen noticed that Alexa was a big movie talker. It was more than the occasional funny comment here and there, but rather a full stream of dialogue. Christen just watched as Tobin would nod along to whatever she was saying, not offering any replies. Christen also saw that Tobin was really into the movie. Like, really into it. 

_Who knew that Tobin Heath was such a Marvel fan_. 

Christen knew nothing about the Marvel universe. She just agreed to see this movie because Tobin was the one who made the plan. Once the movie setting changed to Venice, she became more invested.

_Wow, I never knew there were this many canals in Venice. That gondola ride looks so peaceful and amazing. I’d like to be there… with Tobin. It looks so romantic, I —_

Christen’s train of thought came to a screeching halt when she noticed Alexa’s hand, so carefully draped over the arm rest with her fingers tips brushing over Tobin’s thigh.

_Oh no she is NOT._

Christen wanted so badly to swat her hand away, or for Tobin to just move her leg. 

_How does she not feel this? Why isn’t she moving? Oh, it’s because she’s too engrossed into the movie_ , Christen thought, looking over at Tobin whose eyes had been glued onto the screen since the moment they walked into the theater.

_Two can play at this game_.

Without even thinking, Christen weaved her hand under the arm rest, and carefully slid her hand onto Tobin’s upper thigh.

However, the second Christen’s hand came into contact with Tobin’s skin, she realized that she didn’t even know if Tobin liked her that way!

_Shit. Shit. Shit. What have I done! I can’t take this back. No way. Friends don’t just go around touching other friend’s thighs._

Christen snapped out of panic mode when she saw Tobin bring her hand up to Christen’s and give it a light squeeze. As if she was telling her it was okay.

Christen melted back into her seat. 

“Well, that was a good movie, I guess?” Alexa muttered, “I mean, I didn’t really understand the backstory.”

“Have you not seen the other Spiderman movies?” Tobin asked.

“No, this was my first Marvel movie.”

Christen watched as Tobin just stared at her, mouth agape.

“This was your first Marvel movie? Oh man, Alexa. That needs to be remedied.”

_Okay, make sure to remember to not mention to Tobin that you’ve never seen any Marvel movies either._

“Well, good thing we live across the hall from each other and can have movie nights all this summer!” Alexa squealed, much to Christen’s disgust. 

“Oh, um,” Tobin mumbled awkwardly, looking at Christen, “maybe.”

“Well, my ride is here so I’ll see you back at the dorms.” Alexa started.

_Finally, she’s leaving. I’m so —_

Christen’s thoughts were interrupted as she watched Alexa plant a kiss onto Tobin’s cheek.

“Nice to meet you too, Kiersten. Hope you have a nice flight back to Jersey.” Alexa giggled, as she ran out of the theater.

_Oh, yeah, I definitely do NOT like her and I don’t like her living across the hall from Tobin._

“So, I’m so sorry about all of this. This was definitely not my plan at all,” Tobin mumbled, “but, I have a way to make it up to you.”

Christen just raised one eyebrow.

“So, Alex flew back to California on a whim this weekend since we have it off and I was wondering, if you’d want to sneak into my dorm tonight? We could actually watch a movie or something. You could spend the night too,” Tobin offered.

_Spend the night?_

“I mean, like you could sleep in Alex’s bed. Or mine. But, like, I don’t have to be in it. I can sleep in Alex’s and you can sleep in mine. Or I can sleep on the floor,” Tobin rambled. 

Christen liked seeing Tobin this flustered, it was different than what she’d seen on the soccer field.

Christen just put her finger to Tobin’s lips to get her to be quiet, “What time should I sneak in?”

— 

It was 10pm and Christen was sitting in her car, in the parking lot of Tobin’s dorm, waiting for Tobin to come get her.

All of a sudden, she saw Tobin appear at the entrance of the dorm, and run towards her car.

“Hey Chris,” Tobin whispered with a smile.

Before Christen could say anything, Tobin was talking again.

“Ugh, why are you wearing a noodie?”

_Excuse me, a noodie?_

“What did you just say?”

“You’re wearing a noodie? As much as it pains me to say this, we're going to have to hide your pretty face until you get into my room.”

_She thinks I’m pretty. Hold up, let’s get back to this noodie thing._

“Okay, but what’s a noodie?”

“Ya know, a no hood hoodie? A noodie”

“Also known as a crewneck…” Christen laughed.

“Nah, it’s a noodie. Anyway, here let’s switch,” Tobin said before swiftly removing her hoodie and handing it to Christen.

Christen begrudgingly took off her _crewneck_ and swapped with Tobin.

“Hmm, this is nice. I may have to keep this,” Christen mumbled, putting up the hood.

“It looks good on you,” Tobin whispered back.

The pair ran into Tobin’s building, into the elevator, and into Tobin’s room.

“Ah, we made it!” Tobin exclaimed, doing a small fist bump.

Christen looked around the room. She could definitely tell which side was Alex’s and which was Tobin’s. However, Tobin’s had a bit more decoration than she was expecting. Nevertheless, it was a nice room, and it made her happy that she was getting a small glimpse into Tobin’s life.

“I never pegged you for someone who decorated,” Christen said, pointing towards the string of lights around Tobin’s bed.

“Oh, Alex did that. I told her she could decorate my side, as long as she didn’t get _too_ crazy,” Tobin replied, “alright, well, we can either watch something on the TV or we can watch on my laptop in my bed.”

_Oh, she wants me to decide. Uh. Two separate chairs or a bed. Chairs? Bed? Chairs? Bed?_

“Bed,” Christen squeaked out.

Christen watched as a small smile teased across Tobin’s face. 

Tobin’s bed was nested up against the upper left corner of the room, shoved against the wall. Christen got in first, and then Tobin. 

“So, what do you wanna watch?” Tobin asked, pulling up Netflix.

“Um, whatever you want.” 

When Tobin’s Netflix opened up, Christen saw her queue, and much to her surprise it was filled with early to mid 2000s drama tv shows.

“You’re a Gossip Girl fan?” 

“Hey, Blair Waldorf is a bad bitch. Don’t hate on her,” Tobin huffed, jokingly. 

“I never pictured you as someone watched this kind of TV,” Christen chuckled.

“Oh, and what were you doing picturing what type of TV I watched?” Tobin challenged.

Christen could feel her cheeks getting hot as a blush crept across her face.

“Ah, nothing. Let’s watch that.”

“Have you seen it? I don’t want you to watch something you’ve seen.”

“Nope, never seen it,” Christen replied quickly, reaching over and pressing the play button.

The show started to play, as Kristen Bell’s voice began her voice over as Gossip Girl. The pair were quiet, nestled against each other in a way that wasn’t too close but close enough.

Halfway through the episode, Tobin whispered, “you know what this means right, since you chose a TV show to watch?”

Christen looked at her with a furrowed brow.

“Well, it means we have to watch the whole thing together. All six seasons.”

Christen smiled. She liked the thought of that. Spending as much time as she could with Tobin. Christen decided to be a little more daring and snuggle in closer to Tobin. Her hand touching Tobin’s stomach, her head against Tobin’s shoulder. She looked up at Tobin to find Tobin looking down at her. Even with the glow of just the laptop, Christen could see how incredible Tobin was. She watched as Tobin’s eyes went from looking directly into her, down to her lips, and then back to her eyes. This caused Christen to do the same, and unconsciously run her tongue across her lips. 

_All I have to do is lean up half a millimeter._

Just as she leaned up, Tobin leaned down. Their lips meeting in the middle. 

The second Tobin’s lips touched Christen’s it was like a spark went off. It was like every neuron in Christen’s body had been idle for the last 18 years, and with this kiss they all exploded, shooting an electric feeling throughout Christen’s entire frame. It was like the world had meaning again. It didn’t matter that they were rivals. Everything for Christen shifted. All with one kiss... and even though it scared the hell out of her, she was excited.

Before either one of them could deepen the kiss, a loud shouting came from behind the door.

“Hey Tobs! You in there? Me and Em are coming in!”

Without thinking, Christen buried herself underneath Tobin’s comforter, praying that no one would see the lump next to Tobin’s legs.

The door swung open to Kelley and Emily, laughing and chatting about something.

“Uh, hey guys! What’s up?” Tobin yelped.

“We’re bored and we wanna hang out. We know Alex is gone so you must be lonely too.”

_If only they knew._

“Oh, I’m not lonely at all. Nope. Just watching Gossip Girl!”

“Again? Tobin, you’ve seen it like six times.”

_Six times? Oh geez, this girl loves her TV more than anyone I know._

“I mean, how can you not? Look at Blake Lively’s legs!” Tobin argued.

_Valid. Okay 1 point Tobin._

“Don’t come near the bed!” Tobin yelled.

Christen froze and stopped breathing. 

“Why not?”

“Um, I’m not wearing any pants!”

Christen did everything in her power to stifle her laugh.

“Tobs, you act like we don’t share a locker room.”

“Guys, I’m about to go to sleep. We can hang out in the morning?” Tobin pleaded.

“You sure you don’t wanna play a round of FIFA or something?”

“Oh, I am totally sure. Actually, I think my Playstation broke from listening to you guys fight.”

“Alright, but we’re hanging out tomorrow.”

“Yep, of course. Goodnight guys!”

As soon as the door clicked shut, Tobin was out of bed faster than Christen could pull back the covers. She watched as Tobin locked the door.

“Alright, well so far we are zero for two in terms of plans working out” Tobin laughed, running her hands through her hair, “however, I didn’t plan on having such an amazing kiss with you so I guess that makes up for everything.”

_Hello, did I just hear her correctly? Did THE Tobin Heath just call our kiss amazing? She definitely wasn’t wrong but wow, this girl, always the surprise._

“Hmm, well, should we plan on having our second kiss? Because I have a pretty good feeling that is going to work out,” Christen said, patting the empty space on the bed. 

Tobin rolled her eyes before crawling back into the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you guys ever heard of a "noodie"? That's all I used to call it before going to college... but then people made fun of me.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’ve got 99 problems and the rivalry between Duke and UNC is definitely one of them...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry it’s taken me awhile to update this. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and if there are any mistakes I apologize. I wrote this on my iPad during a long drive sooooo yeah, sorry!

— _Tobin’s POV_ —

It had been about an hour since Christen had fallen asleep next to her. She quietly closed her laptop, setting it on the nightstand next to her.

Tobin watched the rise and fall of Christen’s back, watching her sleep so soundly.

_I can’t believe we kissed. She likes me._

Tobin couldn’t help but smile at that. Tobin was finally feeling more confident with herself and being with Christen.

_This rivalry with Duke, it’s valid but at what cost? The team really can’t control who we date, that’s ridiculous. I won’t let them control me. I’m here to play soccer, and it’s gonna be the best damn soccer I’ve ever played. Christen won’t change that... right?_

Before Tobin could continue her internal monologue, she felt the girl next to her stir.

“You okay, Tobs?”

“Yeah, fine. Go back to sleep,” Tobin whispered softly, kissing Christen’s cheek.

Christen just let out a low hum, before turning over and snuggling closer into Tobin’s chest.

Tobin held Christen in her arms for a few moments before falling asleep herself.

Trying to sneak Christen out of the dorms the next morning posed a slight problem. The two slept in much later than they were planning which meant more people were out and about.

“Alright, so according to my Snap Map, Em and Kelley are at the athletic building and Allie and Sam are across campus,” Tobin said, “I _think_ we can make a break for it... I just hope we don’t run into Alexa.”

Tobin watched as Christen rolled her eyes when she had said Alexa’s name.

“Don’t like her?” Tobin asked, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s just, um, interesting. Very hands on. Talkative,” Christen shrugged.

Tobin just laughed, wanting to tell Christen she had nothing to worry about, but didn’t want to overstep whatever was going on between them. That was a conversation for later. Now it was time to strategize the great dorm escape.

“Alright, so here’s another hoodie and a SnapBack you can wear, and then we are gonna run like the wind through this building out to your car.”

The two took off running, down the hall and down the stairs, luckily running into no one... until they got to the doors leading to the parking lot.

“Hey Tobin!”

Tobin looked up to see Madison, her hair wet and up in a bun, fresh from diving practice.

“Oh hey, Mads. Um, I kinda gotta run.”

“Who’s your friend?” Madison asked, tipping the bill of Christen’s SnapBack up.

“Just a friend! Gotta go!”

Tobin wrapped her arms around Christen’s shoulder before basically dragging her through the door and out the parking lot.

The two got into Christen’s car and before either one of them could say anything, Christen floored the gas.

“So, um, where are we even going?” Christen asked, interrupting the silence that had enveloped the car.

“Well, there’s a little cafe about thirty minutes from here we can go to? Hopefully the distance means no one from school we see us.”

Tobin hated this, the running and the hiding. But, they hadn’t talked about anything yet, so there wasn’t much else to be said.

“Yeah. Okay, just put the address in my phone and we’ll go,” Christen sighed quietly, handing Tobin her phone.

The two drove to the restaurant in silence, both trying to come up with some sort of solution to their growing problem.

The cafe was basically empty. The breakfast crowd gone. Tobin and Christen found a table near the back, overlooking the door just in case someone they knew came wandering in. They ordered their drinks, Tobin remembered that Christen liked iced vanilla lattes which earned her a small smile.

“So...” Tobin started, “we should talk about this. Us. This situation.”

After a moment too long of silence, Christen finally said, “it fucking blows.”

Tobin didn’t really know how to respond to that. She knew that Christen wasn’t one for words but she really wanted to talk about whatever was going on between them. Then, doubt creeped over her entire mind, shoving out the confidence that was once there. _Maybe she didn’t like the kiss. Maybe she just stayed to be polite. Oh god, maybe I’ve read this entire situation incorrectly._

“Did you, do you, um, not like me?” Tobin asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

She watched as Christen’s eyes went wide. “No, no, no! It’s nothing like that. Shit. I’m just really bad with my words and opening up. I really like you, Tobin. I want to keep getting to know you and seeing you, I just don’t know how it can work. I mean, we were basically busted at the movies. Your friends walked into your room last night. Then, this morning, we got caught again. I just don’t know how we can make it work.”

“I really like you too, Chris. Maybe I can talk to some of the upperclassmen about how serious this rivalry really is... I mean, it can’t be like Pitch Perfect serious. Like I’m not going to be a worse soccer player because of it, I mean —,” Tobin began, before seeing Christen start to laugh, “what?”

“I know we are having a serious conversation, but did you just reference Pitch Perfect?”

Tobin frowned, “Yeah, you know that scene where they make the girl drag her chair across the floor after she got kicked out because she slept with a Treblemaker.”

“Of course, I know the movie. I just, well, I never knew Tobin Heath would be such a pop culture junkie,” Christen laughed.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, I guess.” Tobin shrugged.

“Yeah, I’d like to find out though,” Christen smiled.

The two went back to having a semi-serious conversation. They couldn’t come up with a good solution, but they both knew that they didn’t want to stop seeing each other.

—

Later that evening, once Christen and Tobin went their separate ways, Tobin found herself at one of her teammates’ townhouse for a barbecue.

Everyone was just hanging out. Kelley and Emily were out in the backyard playing with a soccer ball, trying to get some of their endless energy out.

“I feel like you could power an entire city with all of their energy.”

Tobin turned to see Allie walking up toward her.

“Seriously. You’re lucky you don’t live on our floor. I think last week they ‘accidentally’ flooded the bathroom,” Tobin laughed.

“I don’t even want to know the details behind that,” Allie chuckled, “So what’s been up with you?”

Tobin didn’t really know how she should answer this, worried that she didn’t know how much Allie knew or if she didn’t know anything and was just genuinely curious, “Um, not much. Just going to class and soccer.”

“I heard you went on a date Friday,”

All the blood drained from Tobin’s face.

“Uh...”

“Yeah, I saw Alexa last night. She said you two saw Spiderman,” Allie continued, “Didn’t realize you were such a Marvel fan.”

“Oh,” Tobin squeaked, “Is that all Alexa said? That we just went to the movies?”

“Yeah, she said that she met you there and had a great time.”

_So, I guess she left out the part about Christen or Kiersten, whatever I made up. Whew._

“So, do you like her? I think she’s cute,” Allie asked.

“Oh, yeah, she’s cool. I don’t know if I’m looking for anything ya know, gotta focus on soccer,” Tobin replied, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Yeah, I get that. My boyfriend, Bati, has been trying to give me space so I can focus on soccer, but the heart wants what it wants,” Allie shrugged before leaving to go get another drink.

_Yeah, and my heart wants to be with Christen._

Tobin decided it was time to try and figure out how to casually mention the rivalry with Duke. She decided that talking to Lauren was the best option because from what she’d seen at practice, Lauren was pretty calm and rational.

“Hey Lauren, how’s it going?” Tobin asked, sitting down next to Lauren.

“Oh, it’s going. Just watching to make sure these two don’t injure themselves before the summer is over,” Lauren replied, pointing to Kelley and Emily (shocker), “Gotta make sure everyone is in tip top shape before the season opener against Duke.”

“So, how deep is this rivalry with Duke?” Tobin questioned, acting as casual as possible.

“It’s pretty deep. I mean, some people take it more seriously than others, but it’s a real thing. It never used to be this bad, but it really ramped up after the whole dating debacle that happened awhile back.”

“Dating debacle?”

“Yeah, so like before I even got here, the captain for Duke and the captain for UNC were dating. Everyone knew about it and it was fine, but then the Duke captain cheated on the UNC captain and everything went to shit. It was bad. I’ve only ever heard stories about it, but from everything I’ve heard it was a terrible break up. That’s why the current captain is so against it. I think she was friends with the UNC captain so she’s definitely still holding a grudge against Duke. I just try and stay out of it you know?” Lauren explained.

_Well, fuck._

“Yeah, sounds like a really complicated situation,” Tobin replied.

“It is and it isn’t. I mean, you’ve got nothing to worry about just as long as you stay away from Duke,” Lauren said, nudging Tobin with her elbow.

Tobin just laughed weakly, and pulled out her phone to text Christen.

 **Tobin:** _*So, you know how I said it wasn’t Pitch Perfect serious? Yeah, it’s worse than that*_

Later that evening, once back from the barbecue, Tobin decided to call Christen and explain everything that Lauren had told her.

“So, we’re royally screwed huh?” Christen sighed.

“Kinda. I mean, we definitely have to keep this a secret. The problem is, this rivalry, it’s never going to blow over. It’s not like it’ll be better next year when there’s a new captain. I think as the years go on, it’ll be even worse.”

“What do we do then?” Christen asked, in the smallest voice Tobin had ever heard.

“I don’t know... but I do know that I can’t just stop talking to you. I know we haven’t defined what we are and I don’t know how you’re feeling but, Chris, after we kissed I swear something changed. I just, I feel like I need to have you in my life,” Tobin confessed.

The line was quiet for a little bit, Tobin could feel her heart racing, waiting for how Christen would respond to her confession.

“I feel that same way too, Tobin.”

Tobin burst into the biggest smile, “I’m glad, Chris. We’ll figure this out. You and me.”

Tobin spent all of Sunday hanging out with Kelley and Emily, trying to distract herself from the problems that had plagued the earlier part of her weekend.

When she got back to the dorms, she noticed the door was slightly opened.

_Hmm, Alex must be back._

As she opened the door, she saw Alex, standing by her bed holding up Christen’s Duke noodie.

“Care to explain why you have this?” Alex asked, shaking the noodie in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, I made a tumblr. Feel free to message me on there if ya want to talk about soccer or my undying love for CP and TH or just to remind/annoy me about updating this fic. My username is: lydunno

**Author's Note:**

> Hope this was okay! Let me know in the comments!


End file.
